Hard Rock Cafe Newcastle Review – Here’s What The Food, Drinks & Service Are Like

A few week’s back we went to the Hard Rock Café in Newcastle for some food and drinks. I was quite looking forward to it, after having been to many Hard Rock Cafes around the world.

It’s cool that Newcastle has one, and they are always worth a look.

If you’ve been to others, or have never been to any, here’s how I found my Newcastle Hard Rock experience.

The Atmosphere & What’s It Like Inside Hard Rock Newcastle

As you walk through the door you are at the shop with all of the Hard Rock T-shirts and other merch. I already have a T-shirt to add to my ever growing collection, but if you want one, you can get one without going into or through the restaurant.

The hostess is there to check your reservation, and you go down a few stairs to get to the bar and restaurant area.

We went in and down to the bar, which faces across from the main dining area, which is one big room. I did see there was an upstairs, but didn’t venture up there so can’t tell you what that’s like.

It’s very much as you’d expect (if you’ve been before). Lots of rock and roll memorabilia on the walls and around the place, and lots of TV screen playing rock and pop rock music. The atmosphere is quite good.

When we were there the fire alarm (or some kind of alarm at least) went off 2 or 3 times. At first it was worrying, once we heard it again it seemed to be like it was going to be a regular thing.

I think that the tables were pretty small. There were 4 of us on a 4 person table, but it felt cramped. We were very close together, and when the food came, there wasn’t a huge amount of room for it plus drinks.

Happy Birthday To You

At the Hard Rock they have a thing where they announce someone’s birthday and the whole restaurant sing happy birthday to the table. At first this is kind of funny in a cringe way, and you sing along.

But when I was there there were 3 birthdays. You then realise that it’s not such a great novelty, especially not wanting to sing along with a mouth full of food.

I can imagine this happening a lot if you’re there, as I guess a lot of people go for their birthday as a treat.

Food At The Hard Rock

Since we went over the Christmas period, they had a festive menu, but I stuck to the usual Hard Rock menu. I got myself the Chicken Tenders which come with fries.

I was tempted by the legendary burger, but I have somewhat of an acquired taste to burgers, and I’d have had it plain which seems a waste.

They were very nice, but they weren’t very hot. Our food seemed to take a long time to come, so maybe they were ready and took so long to come that they were no longer piping hot. As I finished my chips, they were barely warm.

I think I got 6 chicken tenders which were a decent size, and enough fries to go with them.

Chicken Tenders & fries come in at £13.50 and come with 2 dips (which I didn’t use).

Drinks At The Hard Rock

Hard Rock is kind of famous for it’s cocktails, but since I wasn’t drinking I suck with lemonade. There’s not much to say about it, it was nice, it was lemonade! If you’re wondering, it was £2.85 for a large drink.

The Service

The service was not the best. It all started from the beginning. My friend paid for a drink at the bar in cash, and it took 15 minutes or so for them to get change. I have no idea why.

Although we were there 5 minutes early, we didn’t get seated until around 25 minutes later, so around 20 minutes after our time. It wasn’t too busy, and got quieter after we were seated and then a little busier again when we left. I don’t know what the hold up was, as there were tables free.

We got our mains, all except one person. We were more than half way through our meals when that turned up. To be fair to the Hard Rock, they did knock this off the bill.

I can’t say anything bad about the staff themselves. They were all nice and friendly, and there’s nothing bad about them. The overall service and experience just felt slow.

Is The Hard Rock Café In Newcastle Expensive?

The Hard Rock in Newcastle is as expensive as all other Hard Rock cafes. They aren’t the cheapest place to go, and you are paying for that Hard Rock experience.

Having said that, in the days of the £10 burger chain restaurants we have in Newcastle, you could pretty much say it’s along the lines of average for a night out dining experience in the middle of Newcastle.

I think given that, my chicken tenders with fries are worth the £13.50 in a ‘sit down’ restaurant (if they had have been hotter!).

Would I Go Back To The Hard Rock Café?

I liked my chicken tenders and the place itself is nice enough, so I would go back. As mentioned the service when I went wasn’t the best, but I could give this another go and it could be better.

Verdict

I am glad that Newcastle has a Hard Rock Cafe, it’s a pretty cool thing to have down the quayside. In my opinion, it’s a place you’d go to now and again, once or twice a year as a treat.

I’m not a big restaurant kind of person (read my restaurants are overrated post to find out why) but as already mentioned, I would give this another go.